Posts in "Joseph Brown"

YAL's National Activism Project for this month, "Government Gone Wild: Spring Break with the TSA," is underway, and I have some additional resources for chapters that haven't had their event yet, including: infographics, new relevant news stories, and information with supporting evidence to help inform students about their rights and how they're being violated -- because if we don't know and exercise our rights, we encourage government to go even wilder.

First, there are two infographics about the TSA that can be easily&cheaply made into a large display by using Posterazor (the same free software recommended in the 'Build Your 5 Rights Display' guide) to simply print out several 8x11 sheets of paper one at a time, cut off the overlapping parts of the paper, and assembling them together with glue or tape:

Left infographic provided by: OnlineCriminalJusticeDegree.com.

Here are some examples of the many ways government has gone wild, with links to supporting evidence: No knock raids. Warrantless searches and seizures. Murder of non-violent civilians and pets (!).

Bauman's take on the Austrian school, "Sh*t happens because of the fractional reserve banking system" is a bit inaccurate, and a commenter was quick to critique this -- he even offers a replacement punchline!:

With regard to the Austrian School reference, fractional reserve is inaccurate; most Austrians have no real problem with fractional reserve. (As long as the banks using it are subject to free market forces, i.e. no government deposit insurance.) It would be more accurate to lay blame on fiat money or to be more lay-friendly, central banking. Working even better perhaps for a punch line might be, "Gold is good sh*t."

I might end up being indefinitely detained without charge or trial for saying this, but the US House just passed (283 to 136) the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included provisions that allow for the indefinite detainment without charge or trial of US citizens the government says it suspects of being a part of a terrorist group, or substantially supporting one...or basically maybe just supporting a group that supports a group that has a member that once unwittingly said hello on the street to someone that may have looked Muslim.

Ronald Reagan may not have lived up to all of his pro-liberty rhetoric and promises, but he could teach us a lesson as candidates, activists, and defenders of liberty in general.

Reagan's lesson, taken from an article by Carla Howell, was that it is not just how you answer a question -- it is which question you answer. If you are asked a loaded anti-liberty question, you should redirect the conversation by pointing out the question's false assumptions -- or you can just answer the question you wish you had been asked.

A while back I was at Gainesville State here in Georgia helping Aaron Rainwater do outreach and recruitment. While doing Operation Politically Homeless there I noticed that his school, like mine, was also recognizing "Domestic Violence Awareness Month," and had placed yard signs with various facts about it around campus:

When I saw this sign, it inspired a few thoughts: Though they may not know the details or what actions to take, most people are against and at least a little aware of domestic violence as they know it — but all too few are aware of and against domestic government violence!

As Murray Rothbard wrote in his must-read article, "Anatomy of the State":

The State is … a monopoly of the use of force and violence in a given territorial area; in particular, it is the only organization in society that obtains its revenue not by voluntary contribution or payment for services rendered but by coercion. ... that is, by the use and the threat of the jailhouse and the bayonet. Having used force and violence to obtain its revenue, the State generally goes on to regulate and dictate the other actions of its individual subjects.